


What‘s in a rose?

by Henchwoman



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Getting Together, M/M, Valentine's Day Fluff, real!rose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:14:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29435148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Henchwoman/pseuds/Henchwoman
Summary: It‘s Valentine‘s Day, and Nico has the perfect rose and the right words at the ready - plus some divine blessing, like it or not.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	What‘s in a rose?

Warning:

1) Slightly AU. Yes, I know that the timing doesn't quite work with the timeline of THO's - Meg and Lester would have to arrive at CHB not until in the second half of February. Maybe you could just ignore that while reading? Please?

2) Unbeta-ed – much to my regret. Believe me, I tried. So feel free to let me know about the mistakes you may find.

@-`-,-

_What's in a name? That which we call a rose_

_By any other name would smell as sweet;_

(by the _other_ Will, son of Apollo... you know)

(@)-`-,-

„Queen Persephone, would you kindly grant me a few words?"

Her husband's last living bastard son is, strangely enough, the one hero she finds least intolerable by now; he is polite, respectful and surprisingly persistent in his mortal weakness. Plus, from what the staff say, he doesn't leave his room untidy between visits. The same room Hades obtained her approval for in exceptionally nice ways. So she will spare the boy a few moments of her time. With a regal smile she looks away from her garden, at him, and asks, "What is it you wish to discuss?"

"Flowers," is his lightning-quick answer. Then he continues haltingly, "Roses, to be exact. What payment - in work, offerings, heroic feats, prayers, anything else - would you deem adequate for the favour of a single rose from your garden?" He lowers his eyes to her feet and bites his bottom lip.

Since her roses have no mystical attributes, she is curious what value he assigns to them - value determines the price, after all. "Why one of mine? Even if it's winter up there, the mortals have greenhouses and flower shops nowadays. Why not simply buy a rose there?"

His face contorts in disgust. "Have you ever entered a modern flower shop? There is this overwhelming smell of greens and preservatives, but next to no natural flower fragrance. They bred away the scent of roses while aiming to slow the withering of cut flowers!"

Mortal foolishness is nothing strange to gods, but this is a new low-point. Persephone furrows her ageless brow. "But that is... What good is a rose without the smell, no matter how long the flowering? They could as well display artificial ones!"

The boy, bless his heart, looks forlorn and miserable. "And it's the same with fruits... No, I remember the scent, and for me a rose has to smell like a rose to have any meaning."

Oh right, the rose he wishes to acquire. "And what meaning would be therein? What for do you need a real rose?"

For a moment his face is childishly timid, and she experiences an unfamiliar pang of compassion for all those young heroes, bred to bloom way before their natural season. But she forgets the feeling when he answers boldly, "In three days it's Valentine's Day. And only a true rose from Persephone's garden is good enough for him."

Aww, young men in love and the smell of roses in the dead of winter - no way that she'd refuse his request now. Her smile is kinder as she declares, "I will accord the favour you asked for. In exchange for one day's work in my garden - breaking up the soil, weeding, tying up shrubs and so on - you will receive one true rose. And if you tell me more about your beloved while we work, I'll grow a rose perfect for him."

(@)-`-,-

Since Nico had finally decided to stay permanently at Camp Half-Blood last summer, Will had it made his business to teach this self-neglecting lone wolf some responsibility for his own body, starting with regular, healthy meals. With varying degrees of success: Nico still didn't like eating with the other campers ('with' being a matter of definition, as he was forced to sit alone at his Cabin's table), and he wouldn't choose vegetables of his own accord. But if Will came to meet him before meals, he would follow him to the dining pavilion, and if the healer picked healthy food for him, Nico would eat most of it. And if they had developed a nice routine there and got to know each other better, what was the problem? Well, apart from a few campers making stupid couple - jokes that Will quickly put an end to - even if it showed that the son of Hades was fully accepted with the others, it might still cause him to retreat into his shell.

But today Will would take a risk and try to change their routine. Today was Valentine's Day, and beside his own preparations he had made sure that his quasi timetraveller _knew_ about the date and what it meant nowadays. That particular conversation had included some probably not too subtle hints (heroes and surprises... that could go terribly wrong - the patient files were proof of it) and ended with Nico deep in thought. Maybe Will had been slightly- okay, more worried than usual when two days later his friend vanished for almost the whole day, probably missed at least two meals, and returned with countless little cuts and burns on his hands, arms and face. But their interaction during wound care was friendly as usual ("Stop fussing, Solace, they're just scratches and wheals from a hedge! You need some people with serious wounds to treat, honestly!") and nothing concerning had happened since then.

Today was the day. His siblings had been cautioned, his words prepared, and the token gift was still safely put away in his jacket when he arrived at the door of Hades' Cabin - nothing overly romantic, no poetry or music to make Nico feel awkward. It was now or never!

(@)-`-,-

Nico awoke with a start as he sensed in his sleep that something happened in close vicinity. The first thing he noticed about that was how he hadn't drawn his sword yet - funny how six months of relative peace and a regular wake-up call for breakfast could mellow you. Said wake-up call was usually Will knocking at his door and shouting nonsense about early birds and lazy daisies until Nico either opened the door or shouted "Shut up!", which the door strangely filtered to "Come in"; but since the son of Apollo had already permanently postponed his own favoured breakfast time to half an hour later, it was a more or less reasonable compromise.

But right now it was silent. A glance at his watch confirmed that he was indeed awake before the usual time for once. Hm. A more alert survey of the room brought a tiny change to light: on Hades' altar lay a rose.

Nico bounced out of bed and raced to the altar. There it was, just as promised: a perfect, fragrant, full-blown rose, in a small glass tube filled with water. The colour of the petals was hard to define - yellow, red, orange, pink, all swirled and smudged and blended, even fine purple edges were in the mix, reminding of... of course, dawn or dusk! And the scent was just as it should be. A rapt smiled spread over his face. Here was Will's perfect true rose.

Wait! Will! The rose! Oh gods, today was the day! A more frantic look at the watch told him that he had just enough time for his morning toilet if he wanted to greet Will completely dressed for once (and he wanted to!).

Without any freak accidents, equipped with his sword as a matter of routine (he was lovestruck, not sick of life) Nico just slid into the second jacket sleeve, rose already in his other hand, when a few rhythmical knocks at the door heralded Will's arrival - and for once they were actually answered with, "Come in!"

The door flew open and something akin to a very personal sunrise happened: golden hair, bright eyes and a beaming smile entered, bringing light and life into the cabin's gloom. Normally Nico would hide under his blankets from this sight, or flee into the bathroom - but not today! On this day, forearmed with his rose and his new jacket, he had promised himself, he would embrace the brightness. Maybe even literally.

If Will noticed the different reception he didn't let it on; he simply walked closer to stop barely two feet from Nico and smiled down at him and, gods, could he be a bit less breathtaking, please? The son of Hades felt adrenalin surge through his body, his hand reflexively twitched to grip the handle of his sword - only that this hand already held something else.

When Will took a breath to start speaking, Nico beat him to it. "You explained this day's significance to me, and hopefully I didn't misunderstand you. So, to make it short..." He drew a deep, steadying breath, lifted the rose and looked dead on in summer-blue eyes for his little speech. "You know I like guys. I purchased this rose for you. Will you accept it?"

At the edge of his visual field (focussed on a promising smile) Nico noticed how Will's fingers twitched, as if he was counting something. But whatever that might be, his smile only grew and he carefully took the rose, which certainly could mean nothing bad.

It had been a pleasant surprise that at least this one son of Apollo was gifted with the rare talent of listening. Somehow he always sensed when Nico _needed_ to say something, and waited for the words to form, no matter how long it might take them. This time was no different, so Nico pulled himself together for the explanation what this rose meant, his eyes flitting between smile and flower.

It helped his nerves, he had discovered recently, to concentrate on that freckles constellation on Will's left cheek (whereas looking at the one spreading across the nose made him a complete wreck). With his eyes safely anchored there he continued, "See, I read an article in a science magazine about how the perfume of roses is correlated with the process of decay. A rose can only generate that wonderful scent if it is allowed to wither. This specimen is a real rose, even if it comes from the Underworld: it looks pretty, smells nice, has thorns and will die. All of it is no more or less true than what I want to tell you: I'm in love with you, and I can't make promises - even less so than other heroes - for a long and happy future, only that I will do my best for you, if you want to give it a try."

Now that he'd had his say, it was his time to wait for an answer. He dared to look at the whole of Will's face and saw it twitch with various thoughts or emotions.

"Where... how... did you say it comes from the _Underworld_?" Sheer wonder, probably at the thought of flowers growing without sun.

"Yes, from Persephone's garden. I made a deal with her. For a bit of help with re-landscaping she grew it specifically for you."

Will sniffed the rose, overjoyed, it seemed. Good. So it had been right to insist on fragrance, and the colourful petals were indeed to his liking, since he put the glass tube into the breast pocket of his sky-blue down vest. They looked even more like a tiny dawn there, and although the vest was unzipped they didn't clash with his camp shirt (a minor miracle per se, in Nico's opinion).

Then the sunniest of all smiles accompanied the much longed-for answer, "Thank you, Nico! I gladly accept. All of it. That is, _if_ you..." he produced an envelope, "accept mine as well."

The envelope Nico received was printed in black, white and red - with atrociously cute skulls and skeletons, which he dignified with the obviously anticipated grimace, judging by Will's grin. In it was a single slip of official-looking paper, written in Will's hand, with the infirmary's rod of Asclepius seal. The attest said... Nico blinked twice and decided to ask the giver to confirm the meaning, just to be sure.

"You already scrawl like a doctor. What is it? Something like, 'It is by my order and for the good of the state that the bearer of this has done what he has done.'?"

Will snorted in amusement. "Nothing _that_ advantageous. As your doctor, I see a serious risk for your health in your isolation at mealtimes. And as a dork in love with you, I want us to spend that time together." (Here he threw in some serious puppy eyes) "Please? There is always room for one more at our table, and even if we are an annoying bunch, all my sisters and brothers will welcome you - or else!"

Will's version of a grim face made Nico bark a short laugh. "What would you threaten your own siblings with? Whistling?"

„No, even worse: I would give their name to Cecil! He made it very clear that he won't endure one more evening of me, um, 'whine and pine' were his words, without making someone suffer."

Now that might carry food for further thought, but Nico's current challenge was to decide how to answer the invitation. Declaring his feelings to Will in the safety of his cabin was one thing, but sitting with Will among the Apollo kids, where he would stick out like a sore thumb, for all the camp to see? The old fears tried to claw their way back in. But Nico had grown so much stronger - strong in the knowledge that, in case of a confrontation, he was the one be feared. So he took a deep breath of rose-scented air, made up his mind and decided, "Okay, I'll sit with you... That is, _if_ I get to hold your hand on the way there."

(@)-`-,-

Their joined entrance at the Dining Pavilion didn't go exactly unnoticed: some giggling and an unexpectedly enthusiastic, "Hah! Pay up!" from the direction of the Hypnos table. But with most campers away at school, and half of those present being engrossed in their own Valentine's business, it went rather quietly, praise the gods. The biggest racket was the muffled cheering of Will's siblings - muffled, obviously, by today's breakfast special. The smell of chocolate, fruit, chocolate, pastries and chocolate was overwhelming. Even more so because quite a few campers had decided to burn more offerings this morning, no doubt pleas or tributes for divine aid in matters of love.

Not a bad idea, actually. The positive response they've met so far incited Nico to go one better. Stupid, impulsive, unnecessary... but he had Will, he'd had real divine help, and he wanted everybody to know! So he squeezed Will's hand a last time and let go, to snatch a plate and collect acceptable offerings.

Approaching the bronze brazier, he felt many eyes on him and smirked. Let them see. Let them hear.

First into the flames went a piece of luscious dark chocolate fudge cake. "For Hades. Thank you for your continued support and benevolence." Really, how many godly parents invited their children to visit them and expressed hope for their personal happiness?

Next were some assorted bits of fruit, succulent, mellow and covered in milk chocolate. "To Persephone. Thank you for the wonderful rose; it is just perfect. And for waking me up just in time, too." Hm, that last bit sounded almost motherly - best not to exhaust her goodwill...

He should have known better. This morning was already working out too well. Bragging with the Underworld's backing had been too much, if course.

Smugly, Nico turned away from the fire - and felt his luck shift as he almost collided with someone, and simultaneously complete silence fell over the pavilion. His look first fell on a muscular, male chest, clad in white, with a quiver's strap running slantwise; looking up he next noticed shoulders, over which parts of white wings showed; further up, golden locks framed an undeniably handsome face, dominated by blood-red eyes.

"Cupid." Nico very deliberately neither drew his weapon nor made any other move of early and violent self-defence, just regained his balance and the grip on the empty plate in his left hand. "What." (Because it's not considered _wise_ to address a god with something like, 'What the fuck do you want, dickhead?!', no matter what your mind is screeching.)

"What do I wish, you mean?" Oh, that deep voice he wanted to hate so much!

Oddly enough, Cupid's face and voice were less terrifying today, it was a bit easier to-... yes, to face him. That's what it was about, right? 'Just stand your ground and face him. It's a breeze. Keep cool.'

"Why, I want my tribute, of course. From you, Nico di Angelo."

The god's expression was something between haughty and amused, and Nico's cool was eliminated by red-hot fury. "Your _what_?!"

His answer was reproachful tutting. "Really, that first, lone arrow in your heart was for the good of all. Or do you honestly believe you could have talked your stubborn father into joining the battle without the passion, the heat of my own fire? Not to mention your enhanced readiness to help our little saviour, all that undemanded, almost _deus ex machina_ -like assistance, inspired by me. Our combined efforts were war-deciding! It's about time somebody shows me some gratitude."

Red-hot had changed to white-hot at the beginning of this declaration, but the strong sense of being goaded helped to control the anger yet. "Oh, sure. Thanks that I got to be your weapon of war instead of _just_ your toy. Whatever."

Cupid's brows rose menacingly. "That second arrow, on the other hand, this _set_ of arrows, was just for you and is of no significance to the rest of the world. Do you still want to treat me with disregard now?"

Darkness thickened around Nico and the only thing he heard was the cracking sound of ice growing (or was it the old crack in the marble floor?). No-one, absolutely _no-one_ got to invade his home and threaten what he had with Will! With a voice he hardly recognized as his own, he declared, "You are nothing but a bully and an extortioner. Petty and cruel. I've killed _monsters_ less callous than you, and I swear-"

Before he could complete his oath, Nico was interrupted by a solid manifestation of warmth right behind him, covering his back from head to upper legs, accompanied by a lovely smell right out of his dreams; from the right side an arm snaked around his waist and pulled him further into the warmth, while a hand appeared over his left arm and set something down on Nico's plate. A muffin with pink icing, sprinkled with red hearts.

Then a very familiar, soothing voice next to his left ear said, "I give you this cupcake, so it's yours now. Would you please immolate it for Cupid and stop provoking gods on an empty stomach? Not that it's not hot that my boyfriend locks horns with a god, but please not this particular one, not today. Alright?"

The up until now overpowering ire instantly cooled down to mere irritation, and Nico's perception cleared. Had he really almost taken an oath to the Styx... to do what? Had he almost ruined everything single-handedly? Had Will just called him _boyfriend_? After three more seconds to save face, he picked up the muffin, let it drop into the fire and nonchalantly stated, "Cupid. Thanks a lot."

A pleased smile graced Cupid's features, and he stage-whispered, "You know, my darling difficutie, I don't mind your attitude... the harder you struggle the sweeter tastes victory. And between ourselves, we all could win if you listened to your boyfriend occasionally - that's what matches are for, after all." He regarded both of them with favour, looked around the still silent audience with a dutiful smile, made some vague blessing gestures and vanished.

This encounter left Nico with a minor problem: how to tell Will that he now seriously loathed the term 'boyfriend'? That's why he wasn't aware of their walk back to Apollo's table, guided by the arm still around his waist, or the rising murmur around.

Only when Kayla, who sat directly opposite, kicked his shin, he was startled out of his thoughts.

"Really, di Angelo? Fighting with a god of love on V.-Day? There isn't a single romantic bone inside that body under your thundercloud, I'll give you that."

Well, after the encounter just moments ago, these words sounded more like a compliment than they were probably meant to.

But before he could think of an appropriate reply, Will set down a plate filled with fruit salad (plus a black-velvet-cupcake, and how he instantly knew the name was nobody's business) before him and glared - glared!- at his sister.

„Did you see this exquisite rose? Can you smell it? Isn't it lovely? He made a deal with Persephone to get it - I mean, really, grown for me by the goddess of springtime, to represent him, thorns and all -, gave it to me with a perfect haiku - even a play with my name in it, honestly, Dad would be envious - and explained that a rose's soul, the fragrance, can only exist if we accept it's lifespan is limited, all the more need to cherish it. Who can claim a more poetic Valentine here, huh?" He cast a challenging glance around the table, proud smile on his lips.

Nico's mouth didn't fall open, but it was a close call. Instead his lids flickered rapidly while he considered this interpretation of his gift and words. What haiku? With 'Will'? This rose should represent _Nico_? Before he could come to a conclusion if a comment would be wise, though, he noticed Chiron's stern look rest on him and his location. With a smirk, Nico prepared to present his own Valentine's gift.

* * *

A/N:

Cupid is blond because to Nico he resembles Will now, of course.

By the way, the haiku happened by accident, really. But I kept it nonetheless. After finding the one missing syllable.


End file.
